HSK 3 vocabulary list

• 多么duō mehow (wonderful etc); what (a great idea etc); however (difficult it may be etc); (in interrogative sentences) how (much etc); to what extent
• 饿èto be hungry; hungry; to starve (sb)
• 耳朵ěr duoear; handle (on a cup)
• 发fāto send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; to make a bundle of money; classifier for gunshots (rounds)
• 发烧fā shāoto have a high temperature (from illness); to have a fever
• 发现fā xiànto notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect; a discovery
• 方便fāng biànconvenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy; having money to spare; (euphemism) to relieve oneself
• 放fàngto put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks)
• 放心fàng xīnto feel relieved; to feel reassured; to be at ease
• 分fēnto divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to distinguish (good and bad); (bound form) branch of (an organization); sub- (as in 局); fraction; one tenth (of certain units); unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm; minute (unit of time); minute (angular measurement unit); a point (in sports or games); 0.01 yuan (unit of money)
• 附近fù jìnnearby; neighboring; (in the) vicinity (of); neighborhood
• 复习fù xíto review; revision
• 干净gān jìngclean; neat
• 感冒gǎn màoto catch cold; (common) cold; (coll.) to be interested in (often used in the negative); (Tw) to detest; can't stand
• 感兴趣gǎn xìng qùto be interested
• 刚才gāng cáijust now; a moment ago
• 个子gè ziheight; stature; build; size
• 根据gēn jùaccording to; based on; basis; foundation
• 跟gēnheel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns)
• 更gēngto change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard)
• 公斤gōng jīnkilogram (kg)
• 公园gōng yuánpark (for public recreation)
• 故事gù shìold practice
• 刮风guā fēngto be windy
• 关guānsurname Guan
• 关系guān xirelation; relationship; to concern; to affect; to have to do with; guanxi
• 关心guān xīnto be concerned about; to care about
• 关于guān yúpertaining to; concerning; with regard to; about; a matter of
• 国家guó jiācountry; nation; state
• 过去guò qù(in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by
• 还是hái shistill (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or
• 害怕hài pàto be afraid; to be scared
• 黑板hēi bǎnblackboard
• 后来hòu láiafterwards; later; newly arrived
• 护照hù zhàopassport
• 花huāsurname Hua
• 画huàto draw; to paint; picture; painting; to draw (a line) (variant of 划); stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 划); (calligraphy) horizontal stroke (variant of 划)
• 坏huàibad; spoiled; broken; to break down; (suffix) to the utmost
• 欢迎huān yíngto welcome; welcome
• 环境huán jìngenvironment; circumstances; surroundings; ambient
• 换huànto exchange; to change (clothes etc); to substitute; to switch; to convert (currency)
• 黄河huáng héYellow River or Huang He
• 回答huí dáto reply; to answer; reply; answer
• 会议huì yìmeeting; conference
• 或者huò zhěor; possibly; maybe; perhaps
• 几乎jī hūalmost; nearly; practically
• 机会jī huìopportunity; chance; occasion
• 极jíextremely; pole (geography, physics); utmost; top
• 记得jì deto remember
• 季节jì jiétime; season; period
• 就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也) even; even if
• 检查jiǎn cháinspection; to examine; to inspect
• 简单jiǎn dānsimple; not complicated
• 时shíold variant of 时
• 见面jiàn miànto meet; to see each other
• 健康jiàn kānghealth; healthy
• 讲jiǎngto speak; to explain; to negotiate; to emphasize; to be particular about; as far as sth is concerned; speech; lecture
• 教jiàosurname Jiao
• 角juésurname Jue
• 脚jiǎofoot; leg (of an animal or an object); base (of an object); classifier for kicks

Frequently asked questions

How many words do you need for HSK 3?

On the current exam (HSK 2.0), HSK 3 requires 600 words in total, counted from HSK 1. Under the new HSK 3.0 standard, level 3 covers 2,245 words in total.

What is in this HSK 3 vocabulary list?

606 Chinese words that the HSK Ace dictionary places at HSK 3, sorted by frequency. Each one has pinyin, an English meaning, audio and a stroke-order animation. The set draws on both HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0, so its size differs from the official counts.

Practice HSK 3

See how many of these words you can use under exam conditions, or learn to write them stroke by stroke.